Bermuda insurance giant ACE has hired leading insurance analyst Donald Watson away from rating agency Standard & Poors.

ACE reported yesterday that Mr. Watson had been appointed Vice-President Enterprise Risk Management for ACE subsidiary ACE Asset Management, Inc.

Mr. Watson will be based in New York and the company said his principal focus would be on the identification and co-ordination of risk management across asset, liability and operational lines.

ACE CEO Brian Duperreault said: "I consider Don to be one of the premier insurance analysts in the business. His extensive background in insurance rating and analysis make him ideally suited to help us deal with the complex multitude of interrelated risks that we face in our global operations."

Prior to his appointment to ACE, Mr. Watson spent 12 years at Standard & Poor's, most recently as managing director in the North American Insurance Practice.

Mr. Watson has an MBA from Duke University and a BA in Economics and Political Science from Illinois State University.